Bruins looking to Krejci line for offense
Sabres' Foligno to sit out with lower-body injury
By
Matt Kalman @TheBruinsBlog / NHL.com Correspondent
Although the Bruins are 5-2-1 in those eight games, it might be time for others to help carry some of the offensive load. The line of David Krejci centering Loui Eriksson and David Pastrnak, in particular, could stand to produce more.
Krejci and Pastrnak have one goal each in their past six games. Eriksson, third on the Bruins with 15 goals, has no goals in his past nine games. That line will try to break out in the second half of a home-and-home series with the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on Saturday.
"I always try to be around the net and get those pucks," Eriksson said after the morning skate. "Hopefully we can get something going tonight and keep going after that. So that's all we can do is maybe shoot the puck a bit more and then be hungry in front of the net."
Buffalo forward Marcus Foligno is out with a lower-body injury he suffered in the third period of the 3-2 shootout loss to Boston on Thursday. That gives forward Dan Catenacci a chance to make his NHL debut and forward Matt Moulson an opportunity to move onto a line with center Jack Eichel and left wing Zemgus Girgensons. Moulson hasn't scored in 39 games.
"The mere conversation of saying 40 games without one [goal] for Matt seems impossible," said Buffalo coach Dan Bylsma, whose team is 2-0-1 in its past three games. "And yes, it's time for Matt to step up and do something out of the box.
"He has played in four of the last five games with Jack and [Girgensons]. While he didn't put the puck in the net, the line had success in the [New York] Rangers game and the Ottawa [Senators] game. When Marcus went out [Thursday], he stepped in there for two shifts in the third period. I thought that was Matt's best game in a while."
Here are the projected lineups:
SABRES
Jamie McGinn - Ryan O'Reilly - Sam Reinhart
Zemgus Girgensons - Jack Eichel - Matt Moulson
Evander Kane - Johan Larsson - Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers - David Legwand - Daniel Catenacci
Josh Gorges - Rasmus Ristolainen
Zach Bogosian - Mark Pysyk
Mike Weber - Cody Franson
Robin Lehner
Chad Johnson
Injured: Marcus Foligno (lower body), Tyler Ennis (concussion), Cody McCormick (blood clot)
Scratched: Jake McCabe, Carlo Colaiacovo
BRUINS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey - Ryan Spooner - Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo - Max Talbot - Landon Ferraro
Zdeno Chara - Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg - Colin Miller
Torey Krug - Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson
Injured: Adam McQuaid (upper body), Chris Kelly (femur)
Scratched: Tyler Randell, Joe Morrow
Status report:Weber returns to the Buffalo lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games. "This is a team he's played well against and I think last game, when we go on the penalty kill in the third period and in overtime, we're missing Mike Weber on the ice for those. And he's going to get a chance to do that for us," Bylsma said. ... Although Rask probably will start, Gustavsson is available to play. He was activated off injured reserve Thursday after being evaluated for an accelerated heart rate. He hasn't appeared since he played one period against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 26. "He's had no more time off than the guys that had the All-Star break. So there was no difference there at all," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "And he's been practicing with us. Maybe the first day or two he went on on his own, but since then he's been working out with us. So that's not an issue there, either. He's good to go whenever I need him."
